


Babysitting

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, i wrote this while my family was having a civil war, please, please enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21800002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Every so often Adachi's forced to take care of Nanako. Surprisingly it's never as bad as he feels like it should be.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Babysitting

Adachi’s gaze glazed over the television, some cookie-cutter reality TV show blaring it’s obnoxious theme music back at his ears in response.

Dojima-San had requested- scratch that, _demanded_ Adachi to take care of Nanako-Chan that afternoon instead of wasting the government’s paycheck on Junes.

It wasn’t all that bad if he was honest: Nanako-Chan was a cute kid, not to mention incredibly independent for her age- she didn’t even ask him to cook dinner most nights, she would just cook for the both of them if he stayed particularly late.

Yet as Adachi felt his eyes burn at the irritatingly bright hair of Aki Kawako flooded the screen, his eyes sought refuge in Nanako-Chan’s hunched-over form sitting at the kitchen table, clearly preoccupied with something.

The opportunity to satiate his boredom had made itself notes as Adachi felt a grin grow on his face, rising from the coach as he approached Nanako-chan.

“Pst, oh Nanako-Chan-“

“Adachi-San!” Nanako-chan cried, quickly covering the portion of the table in front of her under her tiny body.

“What’s up? You’re not hiding things from me are you?” Adachi exaggerates a pout as he pulled out a chair. “That’s not very nice, Nanako-chan…”

“I-I’m not hiding anything! I was just scared…” The latter was true- she didn’t hesitate to include herself in her statement. But the former? The guilt was practically seeping.

“Nanako-chan…” Adachi warned, “You wouldn’t want daddy to know you’re lying right? He raised you better than that.”

Nanak-chan puffed her cheeks, her stare now askance from Adachi. “I guess… I’m sorry Adachi-san.”

Adachi’s hand ruffled against Nanako-chan’s head, resulting in a smile to sprout from her lips. “It’s OK! You just have to be honest, got it? Now- what were you working on?”

At the mention of the aforementioned assignment Nanako-chan began to fidget, her teeth gripping her inner lip. “I-It’s a present… I’m trying to wrap a present for daddy…”

Nanako-chan shifted her body, fully exposing the sealed package in front of her. Judging by the size of the box, there easiest assumption to make was that inside was a mug, coupled with the fact of Dojima-san’s odd mug obsession. But everyone’s got a niche, Adachi supposed.

“Aw, that’s sweet! Man, Dojima-san’s sure lucky to have a great kid like you huh.”

Nanako-chan’s smile beamed as she nodded her head, the guilt from before already fading. “Yeah! At school, my art teacher was teaching us how to make clay pots, so I made daddy one!”

A mug’s _like_ a pot, it just has a handle right? They’re the same, so his assumption was definitely correct.

“But… I… I can’t wrap it.” The disappointment in her inability to wrap a box flooded Nanako-chan’s eyes as she looked about on the verge of crying. It broke Adachi’s heart.

“Hey, don’t worry about it Nanako-chan! Here, I’ll do it for you-“

“No! Oh, so mean- ‘no thank you.’ I wanna do it myself! I just don’t know how to do it.”

Oh, why did Nanako-chan have to make it difficult? If he were her, he’d just pass it off to someone to wrap. But the sentiment behind it is probably why- just like Nanako-chan to be thoughtful like that.

“Well, then let me help you! Do you have a spare box or something?”

“Really? Thank you Adachi-San! I’ll be right back, I have another present I need to wrap!” With that, she blinded from her chair back to her room. Probably for Narukami-kun if he had to guess, Nanako-chan didn’t seem to have too many friends that she could give a present too.

When Nanako-chan came back, she cradled another similar box in her hands. Another mug- pot? Pot. It was another pot.

“Who’s that one for?” Adachi just wanted to confirm with himself that it was for her cousin- more so that he could actually be right today.

“I can’t tell you. It’s uh- it’s a secret.” Nanako-chan flushed as she clutched the box closer to herself, walking back to the kitchen table.

If Nanako-chan were a bit older, Adachi would’ve assumed it was for a boyfriend- definitely something Adachi wouldn’t blame Nanako-chan for keeping secret living under Dojima-san’s roof. But who else could it be?

“It doesn’t matter I guess, just let me see it.”

“...and I fold it over… like… that!” Doing just that, folding the final folded portions over the remaining side, Dojima-san’s present was pristinely wrapped but Nanako-chan- all by herself (even if it cost a few feet of wrapping paper).

“Look at that! Great job Nanako-chan, you did it!” Adachi praised, clapping as Nanako-chan giggled, pushing him in mild embarrassment. 

“Adachi-san, you helped me! Of course I was able to do it.”

Adachi slumped back in his seat, folding his arms and letting his eyes roll. “Oh c’mon Nanako-chan- all I did was tell you how to do it. You wrapped it by yourself afterwards!”

Not being able to find fault in Adachi’s immaculate logic, Nanako-chan’s bashful grin transfigured itself into a soft smile. “I did, didn’t I? Still- I wouldn’t have been able to know how to do it if you didn’t teach me Adachi-san, so thank you!”

Adachi’s heart fluttered just a bit at Nanako-chan’s sincerity. It was a fact: she really wouldn’t have been able to do it if Adachi didn’t tell her how to wrap a box. But her earnest appreciation made him feel… something. It was a weird feeling and frankly he didn’t like it.

“I’m going to put these back in my room. After that, can we watch a movie?”

“If anything worth watching on, then sure. Make sure you get changed first- you’re going to bed afterwards.”

“Aww… do I have to? I wanna stay up with you…”

Adachi felt his heart flutter again and suddenly found himself at a crossroad: he SHOULD put her to bed. It was the responsible thing to do. But…

“Nanako, I’m home—“ when Dojima-san had stepped through the door, he expected Nanako-chan to either eve in her room, her by the TV by herself. Yet the sight of Nanako-chan curled up next to Adachi on the couch was an oddly pleasant surprise, Adachi’s suit jacket acting as a make-shift blanket as he wearily watched the ending of their movie.


End file.
